Tribute to the Japan earthquake- CherryClan
Author's Note- This is a fictional clan and fictional characters, but the Japanese earthquake was real. Amberfire3, RAVENCLAW!!!!Smartypants!!! Luna is awesome! 05:20, April 19, 2011 (UTC) CherryClan.jpg Ebonykit.png|Ebonykit Fawnkit.png|Fawnkit Herbpaw.png|Herbpaw Swanpaw.png|Swanpaw Allegiances CherryClan Leader: Blossomstar- tortoiseshell and white she-cat with a striking pink nose and leaf green eyes. Deputy: Risingsun- ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes and a white mark on her forehead. Medicine cat: Yewberry- black she-cat with green eyes. Apprentice: Egretpaw Warriors: Flowerpelt- brown and white she-cat with blue eyes. Rainflower- grey tabby she-cat with blue eyes. Apprentice: Swanpaw Earthfur- brown tabby tom with green eyes. Tigerpad- white tom with a brown paw and striking amber eyes. Cranefeather- black and white tom with blue eyes. Batwing- very dark gray she-cat with dark blue eyes. Apprentice: Riverpaw Yoka- siamese she-cat with blue eyes, used to be a kittypet. Apprentices: Egretpaw- white tom with light green eyes. Swanpaw- elegant white she-cat with blue eyes. (pov) Riverpaw- blue-gray tom with amber eyes and a fluffy tail. Queens: Butterflywing- Ginger and white she-cat with loving gray eyes. Kits are Joykit and Thunderkit. Mistyrain- gray tabby she-cat with green eyes. Kits are Otterkit, Fawnkit, Wildkit, Skykit, Redkit and Ebonykit. Kits: Joykit- ginger she-cat with blue eyes. Thunderkit- black tom with amber eyes. Otterkit- brown tabby she-cat with green eyes. Fawnkit- light brown she-cat with green eyes. (pov) Wildkit- gray tabby she-cat with amber eyes. Skykit- white she-cat with blind blue eyes. Redkit- reddish brown she-cat with amber eyes. Ebonykit- black she-cat with dark gray eyes. (pov) Elders: Browntail- white tom with a brown tail and green eyes. Whiteclaw- black she-cat with a white paw. Cats outside Clans Stag- brown tabby tom with black eyes and one white paw. Mate of Mistyrain and father of her kits. Loner. Piper- beautiful light ginger she-cat with feisty amber eyes and a dark ginger sun-shaped mark on her forehead. Leader of Gang. Snow- white she-cat with green eyes- in Gang.(apprentice age) Herb- ginger and white she-cat with mint green eyes- in Gang. (apprentice age) (POV) Indigo- black she-cat with dark blue eyes- in Gang. Chapter 1- Swanpaw "Swanpaw! Come with me to the Clearing! You need to practice your fighting moves!" my mentor, Rainflower called. I sighed. I'm much better at hunting than fighting. "Coming!" I mewed, bounding over to Rainflower, who was at the entrance to our camp, which is a comfortable, snow-bound clearing in the small forest on the edge of the huge Twolegplace. The entrance is safely guarded by two gigantic cherry blossom trees. We slipped through the small space in between the trees, and out into the forest. It's good to be here, where prey is plentiful even in leaf-bare! I thought, scampering through the snowy path that led to the Clearing. "First, we'll practice the Blossom Scratch," Rainflower ordered, showing me how to dive at my enemy, knock them down by aiming at their tendons, and then scratching them on their ears many times, to make them bleed a lot. "It's called the Blossom Scratch because Blossomstar thought of it. It's great if you want to defend, which in this case sends them running away. But if you're attacking, say, a fox or even a Twoleg, it won't work well, they'll just get reinforcements, and when we tried it on a Twoleg, it' ears didn't bleed." After a long time of practicing my fighting skills, which were almost good enough to match any warrior, it was night. I preened my soft white fur, and Rainflower scoffed,"Why do you bother? It's moonhigh soon!" "Well, I have to look nice, my warrior ceremony will be any day now!" I retorted, narrowing my blue eyes into slits. I playfully growled, and pounced onto Rainflower, tackling her to the ground. That was the moment it happened. Chapter 2- Fawnkit/ Ebonykit I yawned, and burrowed deeper into my nest. It was almost moonhigh, and I couldn't get to sleep. Brushing my soft brown tabby fur against Ebonykit, my favorite sister, I fluffed up my fur. Ebonykit immediately woke up. "Whatssa matter?" she grumbled, still half asleep. "I can't get to sleep." "Huh? Okay," The black she-cat closed her dark gray eyes and yawned, muttering something about,"If I could only get back to my dream..." Then, it happened. The massive shaking. It has happened before, but not this dreadful. I recalled Blossomstar and Risingsun teaching us what to do. "If the ground starts to shake, get under a bush, but not near a tree." The problem was, I couldn't. All I could do was bounce around, cannoning into a rock. Then, there was an awful silence and I couldn't feel my forepaw. A cat started to wail, and then I think I blacked out. ************** I woke up. I didn't know what time of day it was. The only thing I could feel was the pain of my scratches, and the terror of the ground-shake that happened. It had finally stopped. My flank was scratched, and my tail -oh, my beautiful long tail- didn't seem to be there anymore. It might have broken off in the ground-shake. Suddenly, my voice came back. "Is anyone there? Mistyrain? Fawnkit? Otterkit? Wildkit? Skykit? Redkit? Anyone at all?" I asked, my voice hoarse, as if I hadn't used it in days. Maybe I haven't, maybe I've been here for more than a day! I thought in horror. Then, I heard more voices. "Ebonykit? It's me, Fawnkit." a familiar voice rasped. "Riverpaw's here, and so are Egretpaw, Batwing and Joykit. I'm not sure about the others, though. It's me, Yoka." the former kittypet mewed. "It's Risingsun here. I think Blossomstar, Mistyrain and Skykit are dead. They're not moving." the deputy wailed. No! Mistyrain, Skykit! I thought. Mother's gone.... I hope Skykit restores her sight in StarClan. And Blossomstar... our leader, dead! "Do you know if anyone was out of the camp?" a new voice asked. It was Whiteclaw, an elder. "Swanpaw and Rainflower were out training..." Risingsun responded. "Oh no! We may not ever find them! What if they're still alive, lost in the forest? They could die soon!" Yoka mewed, in fear. Then I remembered that Swanpaw was Yoka and Earthfur's daughter. Is Earthfur still alive? I thought sympathetically. "And I'm stuck! Is anyone free to get me out of here?" I asked, changing the subject and trying to pull myself out of the hole in the rock I was stuck in. "I am! Don't worry!" Egretpaw volunteered to my relief. He easily yanked me out, and I could see. "What happened to your tail?" the medicine apprentice asked. I was too busy looking around the camp to answer. Blood and cats littered the floor. I spun around, looking for survivors. Earthfur was lying on the ground, mangled and bloody, dead. His spine was broken. I remembered that he was climbing to the top of a cherry blossom because of a dare. "Redkit! Otterkit!" I yelled, finding them in a hole in the ground near the ravaged nursery. They were dead, blood still trickling from their mouths. I heard someone calling my name. It was a very familiar voice... I turned around, and there was Fawnkit! We ran to each other, which was hard because there was something wrong with her leg. We touched noses and mewed in sync, "Thank StarClan you're alive!" Chapter 3- Swanpaw I couldn't move. Where was I? I could see the light, but I was under it. And I couldn't get back up. What happened? I thought, trying to remember. All I could remember was a long shaking and falling. There was little space, and I was starving. Will I die here? I mustered all my energy, and arched my claws. I leapt up, panting, and landed on a ledge. So close... I jumped again, and I was out. Who says I'm more beautiful than strong? I saw what I fell through. A giant scar through the earth! Then I spotted the body of Rainflower. She was twisted, mangled and bloody. I ran to her, and drew in her scent for the last time. Then I realized that I needed to get back to camp.'' What if everyone died? What if I'm all alone? I thought in horror. I ran back to the camp, limping a bit. What I saw in camp was the bodies of my friends and family. There were a few survivors, more than I expected. Risingsun, Egretpaw, Flowerpelt, Tigerpad, Batwing, Yoka, Riverpaw, Butterflywing, Joykit, Fawnkit, Ebonykit and Whiteclaw survived. Blossomstar, Yewberry, Rainflower, Earthfur, Cranefeather, Mistyrain, Thunderkit, Otterkit, Skykit, Redkit, Wildkit and Browntail would be in the ranks of StarClan tonight. ''Earthfur! I thought in grief. I let out low moan, and suddenly everyone noticed me again. "Swanpaw!" "You're alive!" "How did you survive?" "Is Rainflower with you?" As I let the ravaged clan know the dreadful news of my mentor's death, I realized just how many cats were left. Half of CherryClan. Chapter 4- Ebonykit One day after the ground-shake, I looked sadly at my mother and siblings' bodies, left in the clearing for mourning with the rest of the dead cats. Why did they have to die? Why not anyone else in the clan? '' It was a selfish thought, and I scolded myself for thinking it. At least I had Fawnkit. "Egretpaw, come with me to the StarStone. I need to receive my nine lives," Risingsun mewed to the medicine cat apprentice, soon to be full-time medicine cat. The white tom nodded and padded back into his den, probably to get traveling herbs. The two cats crept silently out of camp. I hung around my family's bodies, telling myself that with Mistyrain not here, I could go to bed whenever I wanted to. Then, with a sorrowful sigh, I lay down near my mother's soft gray fur, touching my nose to her ear, and fell asleep. A soft yowling woke me. I hadn't noticed it before, but I somehow knew it had been here since the day before. I sniffed, and I smelled... Twoleg. I padded over to where the sound was coming from. It was a cleft in a rock, high up. We live in a gorge, so we are surrounded by tall walls of stone. I unsheathed my claws and started to climb. It was very early morning, so no one saw me. I leaped up to a narrow ledge, near the top of the cliff, and there I saw it. A Twoleg kit, a female, was sprawled on the ground, bleeding hard. It was a Twoleg, one of our worst enemies, but I felt sorry for the little kit. It might die. I meowed to let it know I was there, and jumped slowly to the ground. I ran straight to Butterflywing. She would know what to do, now that Risingsun and Egretpaw were gone. "Butterflywing, I think you should come with me!" I mewed urgently. "What is it, dear?" she asked. "An injured Twoleg kit is stuck and hurt up the cliff. We should help it!" I whispered. "Let me see it first," the queen requested, fluffing her ginger and white fur up against the cold. She pounded into Egretpaw's den and grabbed some comfrey-no, a LOT of comfrey. We clambered up to the Twoleg. Butterflywing gasped and furiously chewed up the herbs. She applied them to the kit's leg, and waited. It was the afternoon when Risingsun-no, Risingstar- came back. "Risingsun! Egretpaw!" Riverpaw exclaimed. "It's Risingstar and Egretflight now!" the new medicine cat snapped good-heartedly. Butterflywing began to tell Risingstar about the Twoleg. I coudn't hear because they were in Risingstar's den, a huge, hollowed out rock with lichen covering the entrances. "Let CherryClan gather under the HighTree to hear what I have to say!" our new leader called out a few hours later. We all gathered near the HighTree, a gigantic cherry blossom that towers over us. "Under the guidance of StarClan, I must choose a new deputy. With the power of our ancestors, I appoint Yoka as CherryClan's deputy." "Wha- me?!" the former kittypet mewed in surprise. "Yoka! Yoka!" I started, then the rest of the clan cheered with me. "Ebonykit has also made a discovery. She found an injured Twoleg kit near the top of the gorge, with its leg broken. There is nothing in the warrior code that says we can't help it, so I will take Egretflight with me to heal the Twoleg," Risingstar reported. There was a lot of commotion in the clan. "Us, help a TWOLEG?" Tigerpad yowled to my dismay. "Yeah, they're our enemies!" "Risingstar, this is preposterous!" I quietly crept away from the quarreling clan. ''I'll help this Twoleg, even if I have to do it myself! Secretly climbing up towards the kit, I hid in cracks in the rock, as my black fur would stick out a lot. "Don't worry, I'll help you!" I hissed to the poor kit. She smiled, reaching out to pet me. Then she shrieked in pain, holding her broken leg. Suddenly, there was an extremely loud noise. I hurled myself back into a hole in the rock. I peered up, and there was a gigantic flying monster! I screamed. The rest of the clan were looking at the terrifying monster too. Some sort of tendril was lowered down, and a full grown male Twoleg slid down it. He expertly picked the now unconscious kit up onto his massive shoulders. Then he noticed me and, to my horror, grabbed me by the scruff and clambered up the tendril to the monster with me in his paw! Chapter 5- Fawnkit "No!" I cried as Ebonykit was carried away by the deafening flying monster, which was now quite far away. "You can't take my sister! She's the only member of my family left!" "Don't worry, Fawnkit, she'll come back..." Swanpaw soothed, trailing off at the last part. "Yeah, don't worry, Ebonykit was always a fighter. She'll come back..." Joykit murmured sympathetically. "You don't know that! What if I never see her again?" I hissed, and I ran back to the nursery, sobbing. Butterflywing and Joykit hurried after me, but I buried myself in my mossy bedding, not speaking at all. Then I heard a familiar voice mewing,"Your sister wasn't the only member of your family left, Fawnkit." Egretflight was right next to me, holding some thyme in his mouth. "Here, have some of this," he purred. I gratefully took the bitter herbs and swallowed them, grimacing. "Who is the other family member?" I asked curiously. "Your father," the white tom replied, not taking any notice of my shocked expression. "Come with me." We walked into the bitterly cold snow. Exiting out of the tree tunnel, I walked into the forest for the first time. It's so beautiful... I thought, admiring the cherry blossoms that shone like moonstone with the snow. Silently, Egretflight led me to a very small clearing on the edge of the forest, near the Twolegplace. Inside a hollow tree was... a cat. He had a soft, light brown tabby pelt like me, but had Ebonykit's black eyes and a patch of white on his paw. "This is Stag," Egretflight stammered. "Stag, this is your daughter, Fawnkit." "Go on," the medicine cat mewed to me. "He won't bite." I slowly padded towards my father for the first time. "Why don't you join CherryClan?" I asked, the words slipping out of my mouth. "I prefer to be alone," Stag replied. "Now, tell me, how is the family? I've been so worried.." I felt pity for my father. To find out that I was the only surviving member of our family left, after so many moons of loneliness? I would hate that. But Egretflight nodded at me, so I, reluctantly, poured all the tragedies of the lat few days out to him. A tear slipped out of Stag's onyx-colored eyes as I finished with the tale of Ebonykit's kidnapping. "I'll see you later," I whispered, leaving Stag behind as I ran back to camp. Chapter 6- Swanpaw (note: some of you may think: "Monkeys? What?", but monkeys DO live in Japan, and there are probably no foxes or badgers there :D) "Swanpaw, you don't have a mentor now," Riverpaw reminded me as we set off for a hunting mission. Prey was getting scarce because the ground-shake had scared all the prey away, even though it was nearly new-leaf. "I know, but Risingstar is so busy, and I don't want to bother her," I replied softly, thinking about our poor leader, so stressed. "She must think she's carrying the weight of the whole forest on her back." Spotting a raven, a rare catch these days, I crept silently towards it, using a hunting crouch I devised myself two moons ago, in early leaf-bare, when the snow only just started to cover the land. No one ever saw me use it, I was usually on my own during hunting sessions. Everyone was amazed at how much I caught, so I was proud of myself, naturally. I kept to the shadows, slinking towards the bird, and just when I was about to snaffle it up, I heard a screeching noise. The raven cawed and flapped away. "Monkey!" Riverpaw hissed, beckoning me to come back to the bramble bush where he was hiding. Suddenly, a cute, fluffy animal padded out into the sunlight. It was a monkey cub. It picked up some pebbles and smacked them together, making a clapping noise. Three more cubs walked out of the shadows, rolling snow into balls, and I stepped back in horror.'' There have never been so many at a time!'' I thought. Riverpaw was looking even more scared. His mother, Sweetspirit, had been killed by a grown monkey when he was a kit. Then, the mother came. She walked with a graceful air, but had a cold gaze. She sniffed once or twice, then yapped something to her cubs in monkey language that sounded somewhat like a harsh order. The cubs instantly dropped their cute and loving looks and stalked, licking their lips, towards the bush where we were hiding. Their pink faces held a sneer that told us they were looking for a kill. Monkeys have always been curious and sometimes dangerous, but never this bloodthirsty! I thought, unable to move. A ferocious yowling broke the silence, breaking the malicious cubs' concentration. It was a gang of cats I had never seen before- a pretty light ginger she-cat with fearsome amber eyes, a white she-cat with deep green eyes, a ginger and white she-cat with a cheerful, mint green gaze and a black she-cat with dark blue eyes. The monkeys scattered; they must have realized we had backup. "Th-Thank you," I stammered to the light ginger she-cat. "Don't mention it. I'm Piper," she replied. "I'm Swanpaw, and this is Riverpaw," I mumbled. Piper nodded. "One of those clan cats, eh? Just who I wanted to see. Take me to your leader- and by the way, this is Snow, Herb and Indigo," she indicated the white, ginger-and-white, and black she-cats in turn. The mysterious cats followed us back to camp. Chapter 7- Herb I was so scared- going into other cats' territory! What if they didn't welcome us? At least I was with the Gang. They were so welcome to me when I lost my parents, Anko and Mila, in the Ground-Shake- it was horrible.'' At least I ''survived... At least I wasn't gored to death by those dogs... At least Piper saved me... At least we're finally joining the clan... At least... At least... '' My mind was spinning with so many 'at least's that I didn't notice we arrived at the CherryClan camp. It was a lovely gorge with so much protection from the stone walls, and cherry blossom trees surrounded the hollow. There were scoops -almost caves- in the rock for dens, lined with moss, feathers and down. "Wow," Snow breathed, looking around with curiosity in her tone. Snow has been a friend to me since I joined the Gang. She is the same age as me, only 7 moons. "Welcome, loners. May I ask who you are?" a voice tinkled. It was a proud-looking ginger she-cat with a white sun-shaped marking on her forehead.,"My name is Risingstar and I'm the leader of CherryClan. Do you want to join our clan?" "My name is Piper, and these are the members of my Gang, Indigo, Herb and Snow. Don't worry, we have been watching you, and we know all about the functions of a clan," Piper meowed, loud enough for everyone to hear. "We would be honored to join your clan!" "Then it is settled. May everyone old enough to catch their own prey gather under the HighTree to hear what I have to tell you!" Risingstar yowled, leaping up onto a gigantic cherry blossom. ''So much power over these cats! I thought. "These cats wish to join our clan. You must welcome them and be kind to them!" Risingstar stated, looking down upon a hostile looking white tom with a brown paw. "I, Risingstar, leader of CherryClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these cats. They wish to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as cats of CherryClan in their turn. Piper, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" "I do!" Piper breathed. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Piper, from this moment you will be known as Gingerfox. StarClan honors your bravery and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of CherryClan." the leader announced. Piper- no, Gingerfox now- nodded, lost for words for once. "Indigo, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Risingstar asked. "I do!" the black she-cat agreed. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you a warrior name. Indigo, from this moment you will be known as Nightsky. StarClan honors your bravery and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of CherryClan." The newly named Nightsky purred, and stepped down from the tree. "Now," Risingstar continued. I have to think of mentors for Herb and Snow overnight, for it is hard to decide now that there are so few of us left. I think it is also a suitable time for Joykit and Fawnkit to become apprenticed." She whisked into what I thought was her den, a hole in a hollow tree. I realized she was limping. "Did you hear that, mama? Fawnkit and I are gonna be apprenticed!" a cheerful kit mewed. "Yeah," a not-so-happy brown tabby kit agreed. "I just wish Ebonykit, Skykit, Wildkit, Otterkit and Redkit were here too, and Mistyrain as well." I felt a pang of sympathy for the little kit. The other kits she mentioned will be her dead siblings! I thought. And Mistyrain must be her mother. I moved a little closer to the kit, Fawnkit, and meowed,"Don't worry, I lost my family too." Chapter 8- Ebonykit (A/N: Yes, she IS alive!!) I woke up in a strange place, bustling with Twolegs of all colors of skin, white, pink, yellow and brown, with flappy white pelts on. My tail was wrapped in a strange cream-colored material. Where am I? I thought, frightened. In the nest next to me was the Twoleg kit with the same material on her leg. I leaped onto her lap and purred, hoping to cheer her up. Apparently I couldn't. Fresh beaded tears appeared on her large black eyes. I stared into them. She whispered something I couldn't understand. I tried to mew something back, but I was rudely interrupted by a full-grown, pink-skinned Twoleg female with long ginger hair. She was obviously comforting the kit, mewing softly to her. Maybe she lost her family too! I thought sympathetically. I meowed loudly to let the adult Twoleg know I was there. "Hello? Can you tell me where I am?" I asked. The Twolegs looked at me strangely, and I knew that they couldn't understand me or help me in any way. Saddened, I made up my mind to try and find another cat somewhere, so they could tell me how to get home. I jumped down from the nest and walked away, loneliness in my step. I wove in and out of dens, and finally spotted a door... leading me outside. It felt so good to be out in the sun again. I let it warm my pelt, and it soaked into my black fur. Then I took in where I was. It was completely different to CherryClan's territory. I was stuck in a giant Twolegplace, with no trees, grass or prey in sight, thought it was still devastated by the earthquake. Not that I could catch prey... I thought. My fur bristled, though I didn't know why. Is someone... watching me? I thought, turning around sharply. It was a she-kit like me, with unusual light brown fur with darker points on her face, feet and tail-tip. She was very slender, but had beautiful blue eyes that reflected the sky. "My name is Thai. What's yours? And where do you come from?" she asked. I noticed that she had a soft, slippery voice, and her scent was exotic but comforting. "My name is..." I started, but realized that this 'Thai' wouldn't know anything about CherryClan. "Ebony. My name is Ebony. Why do you have such strange markings?" "I'm a Siamese, which is a type of cat. The originate in-" Thai broke off. She probably doesn't even know! I thought, having an inside giggle-fest. "Well, Thai, do you know of a forest anywhere?" I questioned. "Actually, before the- the earthquake..." Thai trailed off, and I wondered if anything bad happened to her. "B-Before the earthquake, I was inside a Twoleg monster with my housefolk and my sister, and we travelled past a beautiful forest..." "Really?" I exclaimed in surprise. "Do you think you could take me there?" "Um... I think so! I hope I can help you... Ebony..." Chapter 9- Swanpaw "This is the medicine cat's den," I told Herb, Snow, Nightsky and Gingerfox as we toured the camp. "The medicine cat heals you if you get sick or wounded." "Woah... that's seems like a great thing to do... Can I go in?" Herb mewed. I wondered why she was so excited; she was always so... shy. "Of course you can!" Eagleflight exited out of his den."I couldn't help overhearing you, and you seem overall very enthusiastic; why don't you become my apprentice?" Herb looked shocked. "W-wow! I... I will," she stammered. "I'll tell Risingstar now!" Eagleflight meowed. He pelted towards the leader's den. "Great. Snow, do you want to see the apprentice's den?" I asked, trying not to make her feel left out. "Sure," she mewed dejectedly.